LSU Class of 2013 could rival/surpass 2007 Class as best ever (on paper)

What about Ricky Seals-Jones, are we still trying to bring him in? I know when he decomited from Texas a month or so ago there was a lot of talk we had a good shot at him but haven't seen his name the last last couple weeks

 

Using Rivals as you did, 2007 class had 2 5*s and 19 4*s. IF LSU gets Williams, Willis, and Gilmore which is close to what you said AND say Patterson or Neal gets raised to a 4* (nothing against Neal whatsoever because I like the guy, but for some reason, I think Patterson is the more likely to move up), then that would give LSU 17 4's and IMO 2 5's since once Rivals expands their total number of 5*s as they ALWAYS do, then Pocic and Williams would give LSU 2 5*s. Thus, just using *s as your gauge and IF we believe them as gospel, then 2007 would still be the better class by a nose/2 more guys rated 4*s. To be fair, that would be from a pool of 26 total commits in 2007 and only 25 total commits for 2013.

 

Beckwith is a strange case and nothing against him...he has no control over this. First, the guy plays QB at his HS which a lot of guys fill in like that. But he has the Liggins combination of being a QB/DL/LBer type. I have no idea what his defensive preference is...obviously nobody is talking QB for him. IF it is LBer, after last year's class of a thousand LBers signed by LSU, and the way Chavis really plays almost a 4-2-5 when you consider one of his "LBers" is really a hybrid one/converted safety, hard to imagine him playing LBer at LSU. And LSU already has 3 DEs committed...Beckwith and Williams would make 5 assuming Beckwith wouldn't play LBer at LSU. IF Williams verbals to LSU, I surely don't think Beckwith would...too many DEs in this class and the only DL last year was a DE Hunter. And the LBer situation...crowded to say the least.

I liked Patterson a lot and actually like him on video more than Williams myself. Several people have said that Patterson is going to be the surprise of the class. This looks like the classic case of the services not doing their job and scouting the guy...happens all the time. Claiborne, Hester, Mathieu, Zach Lee IMO, etc. And you can't go by offers like you usually can because the guy committed in like March. Combine his incredible early committment and the fact that he plays in a very low population area of the state, wonder how many times ANYONE from ANY of the services saw him play, saw him practice, talked to his coach, etc? 0?

 

I know its fun to compare classes from a historical perspective but there is no way this class is near the best on paper. Dont get me wrong, this is an excellent class. Im very excited about the talent thats committed. The '08 class with Shepard, Randle, Loston, Montgomery, etc is much better on paper. They have much more star power up at the top. Last years class was also an exceptional class on paper with a lot of big time recruits like Freak, Collins, Landry, Beckham, Hilliard, etc.

Not to mention none of these kids are signed yet. Im sure we will lose a few of these kids. We will pick up others in their place. IMO this is an excellent class but lacks the star power to be considered near the best class on paper.